Good Legal Writing -- A Short Primer for Lawyers

GOOD LEGAL WRITING – A SHORT PRIMER FOR LAWYERS Last week I received an email from an associate with an attachment – a one page letter to adverse counsel. The email was one sentence: “Is this okay to send?” Here are the first two lines of the attached letter, word for word, the punctuation as it was in the letter: This letter hereby rejects your notice of EBT dated March 23, 2007 of the father of my client scheduled for August 23, 2007. I admit I had a good laugh when I opened it considering we spoke just last week and you told me you were looking to get me a date for your clients deposition that you had previously requested to be adjourned. Yes, that was actually written by a lawyer. I still can’t read it without cringing. Unfortunately, the same can be said about much of what we write. It doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, as lawyers, language is perhaps our most important tool. The clearer, more concisely we write the better off we’ll be. Here then, are a few tips gleaned from a few years attempting to do just that: • Know your audience. For lawyers this means really thinking about who is going to be reading your writing. If you’re making or opposing a motion in a busy New York City trial court and draft a 30-page brief, don’t expect it will be read. Conversely, if you’re submitting papers to a Federal District Court it ought to be perfect because the Judge – and her law assistant – will read every word. • As Thomas Jefferson said, “[t]he most valuable of talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” In other words, cut the fat. • Don’t use “then” when you mean “than.” This is one of the most common – and awful – mistakes I’ve seen over the years. “Then” refers to a point in time. “Than” refers to a choice, or “as opposed to.” Thus, “I’d rather watch TV than do chores,” or “I then decided I’d better get to work.” The two words cannot be used interchangeably. • Use apostrophes appropriately. Just because a word ends in “s” doesn’t mean an apostrophe precedes the “s.” Thus, serving more than one subpoena does not make the word “subpoena’s.” • A corollary to the previous rule is learning the appropriate uses of “it’s” and “its.” “It’s” is the contraction for “it is.” “Its” shows possession and has no apostrophe. So we would write “it’s a good case” or “the defendant is responsible for the acts of its contractors,” but never, for example, “the defendant is responsible for the acts of it’s contractors.” • Finally, consider your font/formatting. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have spent dozens of years and billions of dollars designing fonts that don’t look like they’ve come out of a ‘60s-era typewriter. So why would anyone use Courier? Or not fully justify margins? Arial may seem a bit informal for some legal documents, but certainly Times New Roman or Garamond is preferable to a document that looks like it just came out of an IBM Selectric. This certainly isn’t meant to be an exhaustive review of legal writing or the epitome of clarity – just some food for thought. Document hosted at http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=7140267e-e65a-47c8-9616-5a732a3e11b3

Latest Posts

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.

- hide

Privacy Policy (Updated: October 8, 2015):

JD Supra provides users with access to its legal industry publishing services (the "Service") through its website (the "Website") as well as through other sources. Our policies with regard to data collection and use of personal information of users of the Service, regardless of the manner in which users access the Service, and visitors to the Website are set forth in this statement ("Policy"). By using the Service, you signify your acceptance of this Policy.

The information and data collected is used to authenticate users and to send notifications relating to the Service, including email alerts to which users have subscribed; to manage the Service and Website, to improve the Service and to customize the user's experience. This information is also provided to the authors of the content to give them insight into their readership and help them to improve their content, so that it is most useful for our users.

JD Supra does not sell, rent or otherwise provide your details to third parties, other than to the authors of the content on JD Supra.

If you prefer not to enable cookies, you may change your browser settings to disable cookies; however, please note that rejecting cookies while visiting the Website may result in certain parts of the Website not operating correctly or as efficiently as if cookies were allowed.

Email Choice/Opt-out

Users who opt in to receive emails may choose to no longer receive e-mail updates and newsletters by selecting the "opt-out of future email" option in the email they receive from JD Supra or in their JD Supra account management screen.

Security

JD Supra takes reasonable precautions to insure that user information is kept private. We restrict access to user information to those individuals who reasonably need access to perform their job functions, such as our third party email service, customer service personnel and technical staff. However, please note that no method of transmitting or storing data is completely secure and we cannot guarantee the security of user information. Unauthorized entry or use, hardware or software failure, and other factors may compromise the security of user information at any time.

If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us is no longer secure, you must immediately notify us of the problem by contacting us at info@jdsupra.com. In the unlikely event that we believe that the security of your user information in our possession or control may have been compromised, we may seek to notify you of that development and, if so, will endeavor to do so as promptly as practicable under the circumstances.

Sharing and Disclosure of Information JD Supra Collects

Except as otherwise described in this privacy statement, JD Supra will not disclose personal information to any third party unless we believe that disclosure is necessary to: (1) comply with applicable laws; (2) respond to governmental inquiries or requests; (3) comply with valid legal process; (4) protect the rights, privacy, safety or property of JD Supra, users of the Service, Website visitors or the public; (5) permit us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain; and (6) enforce our Terms & Conditions of Use.

In the event there is a change in the corporate structure of JD Supra such as, but not limited to, merger, consolidation, sale, liquidation or transfer of substantial assets, JD Supra may, in its sole discretion, transfer, sell or assign information collected on and through the Service to one or more affiliated or unaffiliated third parties.

Links to Other Websites

This Website and the Service may contain links to other websites. The operator of such other websites may collect information about you, including through cookies or other technologies. If you are using the Service through the Website and link to another site, you will leave the Website and this Policy will not apply to your use of and activity on those other sites. We encourage you to read the legal notices posted on those sites, including their privacy policies. We shall have no responsibility or liability for your visitation to, and the data collection and use practices of, such other sites. This Policy applies solely to the information collected in connection with your use of this Website and does not apply to any practices conducted offline or in connection with any other websites.

Changes in Our Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to change this Policy at any time. Please refer to the date at the top of this page to determine when this Policy was last revised. Any changes to our privacy policy will become effective upon posting of the revised policy on the Website. By continuing to use the Service or Website following such changes, you will be deemed to have agreed to such changes. If you do not agree with the terms of this Policy, as it may be amended from time to time, in whole or part, please do not continue using the Service or the Website.

Contacting JD Supra

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, your dealings with this Web site, or if you would like to change any of the information you have provided to us, please contact us at: info@jdsupra.com.

*With LinkedIn, you don't need to create a separate login to manage your free JD Supra account, and we can make suggestions based on your needs and interests. We will not post anything on LinkedIn in your name. Or, sign up using your email address.